Game



May 30, 1939.

L. W. DUNHAM GAME Filed March 50, 1957 INVENTOR lzuw Wfimimm /%TORNEY Patented May 30, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT- OFFICE 8 Claims.

This invention relates to games and has for its object to provide a novel game which is adapted for indoor and outdoor home use and which depends largely upon the skill of the .5 player. 7

Another object is to provide a game which is interesting and attractive to both players and onlookers.

A further object is to increase the length of playing surface by reacting the playing disc against a curved or straight wall.

Referring to the drawing Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the game board embodying this invention adapted for two players.

Fig. 2 is a section on the plane of the line 22 of Fig. 1'.

Fig, 3 is a top plan view partly in section of one of the discs. I r r Fig. 4 is a section through the disc of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 shows one of the actuators or shooters. Fig. 6 is a top plan view of a game board of this invention adapted for use by four players.

Fig. 7 is a section through a modified form of disc. 5 The game board 9 shown in Fig. 1 is provided with at least two raised walls l0 each comprising a substantially straight longitudinal alley portion located adjacent the longitudinal edges of the board and curved lateral end portions ll of the general shape indicated and of nearly 180 in extent to return the playing discs to a counting area. In the central part is a field or counting area l5 subdivided and numbered as illustrated, it being the object of the game to endeavor to get each player's disc on one of the numbered areas, preferably those of high value and, if possible, get ones opponent's discs on to areas of negative value.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 4 each disc has a rim 40 of rubber l6 shown as being countersunk within the periphery of the disc. One face ll of the disc is made convex, while the other face I8 is substantially flat. When the disc slides over the board on its flat face different results may be obtained from use of the disc than when sliding on its convex face, its convex face better adapting the disc for long shots and also for spinning about its own axis, which permits discs to carrom at sharp angles. The discs of one player are preferably colored differently from those of another player, for example, one players discs may be red and his opponents discs black. The material of the disc 12 is preferably hard wood or other appropriate material, such as phenolic resins, or

the discs might even be of metal and either hollow or solid. The flat side of the disk is more suitable for shots where the disc is desired to hang adjacent the position of impact against another disc while different results are obtained board in the desired direction. The actuator has .5

its end portion 20 which is placed contiguous the disc, arranged at an acute angle to the axis of the main body portion of the shooter which enables the thumb and finger of the right hand to be held above the wall 10 and the actuator to have .1 freedom of movement without touching the wall. The shooters are preferably of flexible material and may be of metal or wood, for example, white wood. While flexibility and spring in the shooter I3 is not necessary because sufficient snap may be given by the finger, nevertheless flexibility in the shooter is desired.

Each player has the same number of discs and starts the play by placing the discs back of the starting line l9. By directing the disc 12 against 30 the desired portion of the raised wall the disc may be made to react in a direction to impinge one of the opponents discs and send it on to a negative area.

The board is preferably rigid and of ply wood .35 or other hard fibrous materials. It is adapted to be stamped out with a die, made smooth with a colored shellac and a numbered field area' stamped or printed thereon. The walls l0 may later be attached by small nails, screws or ad- 40 hesive or other appropriate securing means, after which the board is rubbed down and made smooth with some type of wax or other appropriate finishing material.

In Fig. 6 the board illustrated is adapted for 5 use by'four players and comprises the raised walls Illa having curved portions Ila which are of less angular extent than shown in Fig. l, but preferably reach to substantially adjacent the numbered areas. Each player for example has 50 four discs of the same color and first one player starts off by propelling the disc in the manner shown in Fig. 1, after which his opponent may start from the diagonally opposite corner of the board. The low scorer may start, and after one 55 shot by himself and then one shot by his opponent, makes a second shot followed by the opponents second shot. Play is continued in this manner until all discs have been put on the board.

Great skill can be acquired in directing the discs against the desired straight or curved portion of the raised wall and on to a high numbered area, i. e. the distance between the straight and curved walls at the starting positions is wide enough to permit the play of straight shots onto the scoring area as well as the play of bank shots from either the straight portion of the adjacent side wall or from the curved portion of the end wall forming an alley which permits approaching the scoring area from substantially any angle in the device of Fig. 1. The presence of negative or penalty areas between the center of the scoring area and the high valued area adds greatly to the interest of the game.

The opponent then endeavors to knock any of the first players discs off the high scoring portions and either on to an unnumbered part of the board or on to one of the negative numbered parts. Preferably the game may consist of ten innings, the score of each player being added at the end of each inning and totalled at the end of the game. The minus score is subtracted from the plus score of any player. The numbered area covered by the greatest portion of a disc is counted in figuring the score while a disc equally divided should be eliminated and not counted or else counted as being in the lower scoring area. After a disc has been shot it cannot again be played during that inning and can only be moved by the impingement of some subsequently shot disc. Greater distances may be obtained by the use of the convex. side of the discs.

The game board of Fig. 6 is constructed and played in the manner described in connection with Fig. 1. The players may play as partners, that is in pairs, or as individuals and, of course, if they play as individuals the discs will need to be of four distinct colors.

While the game boards illustrated are of a size convenient for play upon a small table, such as a card table, this game can be made in larger sizes for use on the floor or upon larger tables.

Where larger game boards for table use are provided the shooter may be constructed in the form of a short golf stick like a putter enabling the player to use one or two hands instead of the finger snap type of shooter illustrated, and of course for floor use a longer handled putter type actuated is preferable, although a shuflleboard type actuator may also be used with the large floor boards.

It has been found the large number and types of shots which are possible by directing the disc against either the straight or curved portion of the raised wall makes for great skill and interest. With skilled players the last shot is often deciding since it may destroy an opponents lead and ac tually reduce the opponents score. It will be noted the board is so constructedthat whether two of four players be active the best shots are generally those obtained by first impinging the disc upon the raised wall and then having it bounce away in the desired direction.

A modified form of playing disc I21) is shown in Fig. '7 provided with a convex surface I! corresponding to that described for the disc of Fig. 4 and also the peripheral rubber portion lBb like the disc of Fig. 4. Instead however of having one face substantially flat, the face opposite the convex side may be concave as shown at I812 for the purpose of providing less surface for contact with the board during sliding, which lessens the friction and makes for longer shots under a given impulse.

Between the concave face and the edge of the disc is a peripheral rim portion of about oneeighth of an inch in width which is adapted to contact with the game board surface.

Instead of having the raised walls 3 and Illa of wood or the like, angle irons bent to the desired hook shape illustrated may be used, the vertical portion of the metal rim which is L-shaped in cross section being located to contact with the discs while the other edge of the base is located substantially flush with the edge of the board. The use of such iron strips contributes to cheapness in production since these strips may be screwed or otherwise secured in place with: little efiort. The strips may be either rolled and bent to the desired shape before being cut off to the required length or they might even be cast.

I claim:

1. A game comprising a board having at least two raised walls, each extending along one side adjacent the edge of the board and being generally curved laterally and inwardly in excess of the board having a central scoring area and starting positions each lying between the end portion of one edge wall remote from its lateral portion and the inner end portion of an adjacent wall, the distance between said walls forming each starting position being wide enough to permit bank shots being played against its side wall which permits approaching the scoring area from almost any angle, the scoring area being substantially flat and level so that discs may be played across it, the inner end of each of said laterally and inwardly raised walls extending far enough inwardly to lie adjacent the scoring area but not extending inwardly far enough to overlap and shield any substantial portion of said scoring area from lateral shots approaching said area from either side.

2. A game board having a central scoring area and raised hook shaped walls extending on all sides of said central area, each wall having a lateral end portion terminating adjacent said scoring area and a substantially straight portion adjacent the edge of said board, the lateral end portion of one wall being spaced from the substantially straight end of an adjacent wall to constitute an entrance through which discs may be slid, and the distance between a substantially straight wall and the lateral end of an adjacent wall at said entrance being large enough to allow the playing of bank shots from the substantially straight wall onto the scoring area, the scoring area being substantially fiat and level so that discs may be played across it, the inner end of each of said hook shaped walls extending inwardly to adjacent the scoring area but not enough to overlap and shield any substantial portion of the scoring area from lateral shots approaching said area from either side.

3. A game board having an elongated central scoring area, a raised wall extending along at least a major portion of board length near its edge on each longitudinal side, the end of each wall terminating inward of its adjacent edge, the opposite end portion of each wall being generally curved for nearly transversely inward from adjacent the longitudinal edge of the board to adjacent said scoring area, the generally curved ends being adjacent opposite longitudinal ends of the board and extending transversely of at least a portion of said scoring area, the inner end portion of each generally curved wall being spaced from the longitudinal portion of the opposite wall to form a starting entrance of a size and shape to enable playing either straight shots onto the scoring area or bank shots from the adjacent longitudinal wall, the'scoring area being substantially flat and level so that discs may be played across it, the inwardly extending end portion of each curved wall stopping close enough to the scoring area so as not to overlap and shield any substantial portion of this area from lateral shots approaching the area from either side.

4. A generally rectangular game board having a central scoring area, a substantially straight raised wall along each edge of the board terminating in an inwardly generally curved wall extending to adjacent the scoring area,and

spaced from the straight portion of an adjacent wall by an amount sufficient to enable shots to be played onto said scoring area or onto said area by banking from the adjacent substantially straight Wall, the scoring area being substantially flat and level so that discs may be played across it, said inwardly curved wall terminating so as not to substantially overlap and shield the scoring area from lateral shots approaching from either side.

5. A game board comprising at least a pair oi wide elongated alleys down which a disc is adapted to be slid, a scoring area common to said alleys and disposed at a side of each alley adjacent the central portion of the game board, each alley having a raised wall extending longitudinally of the alley along the outer side thereof and directed laterally across the end of the alley opposite the starting end thereof, the inner side of each alley being open to a substantial amount, so that a playing disc may be slid along said alley and on said scoring area from substantially any direction by direct or by banking or reaction from contact with either or both the longitudinal or lateral bounding wall, the scoring area being substantially flat and level so that discs may be played across it, the laterally directed end wall for each alley extending inwardly far enough to lie adjacent the scoring area but yet avoid overlapping and shielding any substantial portion of said area from lateral shots approaching from either side.

6. A game board comprising at least a pair of wide elongated alleys down which a disc is adapted to be slid, a scoring area common to said alleys and disposed at a side of each alley adjacent the central portion of-the game board, each alley having a raised wall extending longitudinally of the alley along the outer side thereof and directed laterally across the end of the alley opposite the starting end thereof, the inner side of each alley being open to a substantial amount so that a playing disc may be slid along said alley and on said scoring area from substantially any direction by direct or by banking or reaction from contact with either or both the longitudinal or lateral bounding wall or by a straight shot, each lateral wall being also directed slightly inwardly adjacent said scoring area to constitute an inner wall for at least a portion of an adjacent alley, the scoring area being substantially fiat and level so that discs may be played across it, each of said lateral walls terminating short enough so as not to overlap and shield any substantial portion of said scoring area from lateral shots approaching the area from. either side.

'7. A game board having a central scoring area, raised walls each extending along one side of said area adjacent the'edge of the board, ex-

tending laterally of at least a portion of another side of said area and also extending inwardly of the edge of the board from said lateral portion to adjacent the scoring area to form with another raised wall a wide entrance so that a playing disc may be started from said entrance and slid on the board and come to rest on said scoring area after approaching it from almost any angle by either being played directly on said scoring area from said entrance or being played by bank shots from one or more of a longitudinal,

lateral, or inwardly extending portion of a raised wall, the scoring area being substantially flat and level so that discs may be played across it, the inwardly extending portions of each lateral wall terminating short of overlapping any substantial part of said scoring area so as not to shield such area from lateral shots from either side.

8. A game board having a central scoring area, raised walls each extending along one side or" said area adjacent the edge of the board, also extending laterally of at least a portion of another side of said area and extending inwardly from said lateral portion to adjacent the scoring area to form with another raised wall a wide entrance so that a playing disc may come to rest on said area after approaching it from a wide variety of directions by either being played directly on said area from said entrance or being played by bank shots from a longitudinal lateral or inwardly extending portion of a raised wall, the scoring area being subdivided into areas of different values, the high valued areas being separated from the central portion of the scoring area by penalty areas, the scoring area being substantially flat and level so that discs may be played across it, the inwardly extending portions of each lateral wall terminating short of overlapping any substantial part of the scoring area so as not to shield any substantial part of said area from lateral shots from either side.

LEWIS W. DUNHAM. 

